Astronaut Lisa Nowak was taken to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Wednesday for a medical evaluation, which would also include a psychological evaluation, NASA said.

Nowak went home to Houston Wednesday morning. This is a day after she appeared in court in Orlando, Florida, to face charges including the attempted murder of a romantic rival.

NASA said she went straight from the airport in Houston to the Johnson Space Center. "She's not staying here. She's leaving with her family," a NASA spokeswoman said.

As friends and strangers tried to imagine what could have caused her apparent meltdown, a few clues have emerged.

A family statement said Nowak had recently separated from her husband of 19 years, who works at NASA Mission Control. They have a teenage son and young twin daughters.

The AP reported that there had been signs of problems before Nowak's arrest. In November, police were called to Nowak's home near the Johnson Space Center after a neighbor reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside, AP reported.

Nowak is accused of accosting Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, 30, in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport early Monday and attacking her with pepper spray. She told police that she only wanted to speak with Shipman.

Nowak and Shipman were both "in a relationship" with Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein, another astronaut, according to a police report of the incident.

Nowak told police her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship and less than a romantic relationship."

Shipman has filed for a restraining order on Nowak in Brevard County, Florida, where Shipman lives and works, according to a copy of the order on the county's Web site. In the paperwork for the order, Shipman said that Nowak had been stalking her for the past two months.